


shut up and drive

by seothsayers



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Friends to Lovers, M/M, Pining, demolition derby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:28:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23633137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seothsayers/pseuds/seothsayers
Summary: Jongdae is in love with two things: cars and Byun Baekhyun.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Jongdae | Chen
Comments: 4
Kudos: 42





	shut up and drive

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimer: this fic is born from me watching louis theoroux's weird weekends demolition derby episode on netflix, i know nothing about cars and that is probably extremely obvious. happy baekchen day

Rock music blares through the speakers as Jongdae works on his car. He and Chanyeol had stumbled across an old Impala whilst they were scouring junk yards the other week and Jongdae had almost kissed the greasy salesman when they spotted it. She was a beauty, a bargain and Jongdae was going to work his damned hardest to make her perfect for the derby.

He has done this enough times now that he’s got a routine – the glass is the first thing to go, then Jongdae works on removing the lights and the plastic. By the time he stops for a break its mid-afternoon and his motivation plummets. Jongdae is in the middle of a passionate air guitar performance to Kansas when laughter tinkles into the room.

“You look busy.” Its Baekhyun. He’s leant up against the doorway, arms crossed and grinning in amusement. The sun beams in behind him and it looks like Baekhyun’s walked right out of the gates of heaven and well… straight into Jongdae’s garage. Jongdae can’t help but laugh at the imagery.

“Oh, I’m very busy.” Jongdae tells him. “Never been busier.”

Baekhyun snorts, strolling into the garage and eyeing the Impala. “This your new girl?”

“Yup.” Jongdae taps the hood. “Painting her tomorrow.”

“What colour?” Baekhyun asks.

“I’m thinking about going for yellow. Summer vibes for summertime.” Jongdae says. “Did you find a car?”

Baekhyun nods. “Eventually. I made Chanyeol drive me around all weekend until we found something. An old Escort. Broke the bank, but worth it.”

“Sweet. Bring it in whenever, I’ll clear some room up for you.” Jongdae tells him.

“My mechanic in shining armour.” Baekhyun sighs. “What would I do without you?”

“More like shining with sweat,” Jongdae laughs.

“I bet you stink too,” Baekhyun grins, wriggling his nose. “You always stink of oil.”

Jongdae pulls Baekhyun into a one-armed hug, rubbing his face into Baekhyun’s neck. Baekhyun squirms beneath him. “There, now you smell too.”

“Gross!” Baekhyun yells, but he is laughing as he pushes Jongdae away. “Anyway, pack up your shit. We’re getting dinner.”

“Yes sir.” Jongdae starts packing away his tools.

.

Jongdae had met Baekhyun at his first Demolition Derby five whole years ago. One of Jongdae’s customers had mentioned it after Jongdae had fixed up his car and Jongdae was immediately interested. Destroying cars for fun? Bets? It was his cup of tea entirely. Jongdae had gone to his first show and seen the neon pink car spray painted with black hangul and put all his money down on it instantly. It worked out in his favour – Baekhyun had annihilated everyone else competing in that match. Jongdae had tracked him down after the feature was over, eager to learn more and talking had led to drinks which led to Baekhyun inviting Jongdae to the junkyard to help him pick his next car.

It was something else – friendship with Baekhyun surpassed any other friendship Jongdae had ever had. Baekhyun had waltzed into his life and filled up all the empty spaces Jongdae hadn’t even realised existed. Jongdae wasn’t complaining though – he never would. Maybe he was a little bit in love with Baekhyun, but he found it hard to see who wouldn’t be. It was Baekhyun.

They head back to Jongdae’s place and Baekhyun crashes on the sofa, flicking through the TV channels whilst he waits for Jongdae to clean himself up. Jongdae takes his time – Baekhyun was right, he did smell, but that was understandable after working on his car all day. Once he’s clean and smelling of strawberries, he and Baekhyun head out.

Baekhyun leads Jongdae to one of the dozen fast-food chains in town. Jongdae’s stomach rumbles the minute they enter – the smell of food overwhelming. When their food arrives, Jongdae scarfs it down and Baekhyun watches him. “I’m going to start phoning you on the hour, every hour, to make sure you’re eating. You do this too often.” Baekhyun scolds. “You’re twenty-five!”

“It’s not like I’m doing it on purpose.” Jongdae responds through a mouthful of food. “I just get busy and… forget. It’s strange really, considering how much I love eating.”

“Well eat up. If you want even a chance of beating me this year you need to be at your strongest,” Baekhyun says.

“That is literally not how the derby works,” Jongdae responds. “But I could beat you with my eyes closed.”

“Blindfolds are definitely against health and safety regulations, but if they weren’t, I would be holding you to that.” Baekhyun says.

“The aim of the game is to literally destroy each other’s cars.” Jongdae points out. “The health and safety standards have been set pretty low already.”

“Touché.” Baekhyun laughs.

Baekhyun is all ears as he listens to Jongdae talk about work, his cheek resting on his palm as he watches Jongdae, laughing loud and grinning wide. It’s endearing and Jongdae is warm inside like he always is in moments like this.

.

“I can’t believe you are working on a weekend.” Chanyeol says as he walks into the garage. “I can’t believe I agreed to work on a weekend. The sun is so nice outside. We could have gone to a bar, got some drinks.”

“No pain no gain.” Jongdae responds and Chanyeol groans.

“You complain every time yet you’re still here. It’s almost like you’re just invested in this as we are, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun says, walking in behind Chanyeol. Chanyeol does not have an answer – his silence is telling.

“We brought the car over.” Baekhyun gestures outside. “Ready?”

“Of course.”

Jongdae helps them bring in the car and sets it up in the space he had cleared out for it that morning. He gets back to work, spraying the last of the yellow paint onto the bumper of his Impala whilst Chanyeol messes around with the radio and Baekhyun starts work on the Escort, removing all the useless parts just as Jongdae had the day before. Baekhyun’s in the zone – whilst Jongdae had a few years of demolition derbies under his belt, Baekhyun had closer to a decade and between the three of them they had everything removed in record time.

Baekhyun settles on a neon green this time. Jongdae winces as Baekhyun spray paints. It hurts his eyes just looking at it, but Jongdae supposes that is the point. His yellow isn’t much better after all.

“That is…” Chanyeol pulls a face.

“A genius idea?” Baekhyun finishes. “Blame Jongdae, he’s the one who gave me the idea. No-one will see me coming.”

“No, literally everyone will see you coming.” Jongdae snorts. “This is definitely worse than yellow.”

“I was going to say loud.” Chanyeol says. “Suppose it suits you.”

“Thanks!”

They end the weekend out on Jongdae’s porch, a handful of beer bottles scattered between them. Chanyeol is playing mellow tunes from Jongdae’s speakers and Baekhyun is stretched out on the deck with his eyes shut, singing along quietly.

“Golden hour.” Chanyeol murmurs, looking up at the sky. “Best time of the day.”

Jongdae had to agree, although probably not for the same reasons as Chanyeol. There was something so beautiful about the way the light warmed Baekhyun’s already bronzed skin. It was mesmerising. Jongdae watched Baekhyun, committing the sight to memory.

Chanyeol goes home, leaving Baekhyun with Jongdae. They drink another few beers between them and by the end of the night Baekhyun is clinging to him as they head inside, muttering drunk nonsense into Jongdae’s neck.

“Bedtime, drunkard.” Jongdae tells him and Baekhyun sighs, flopping down onto Jongdae’s bed.

“Ugh.” Is all Baekhyun says.

“I can relate, but seriously. I have work in the morning and so do you.” Jongdae frowns. “Are you sure you don’t want to just get an uber home? You’re going to have to get up at the ass crack of dawn.”

“If I go home, I will definitely oversleep.” Baekhyun rolls over and buries his face into Jongdae’s pillow, his words growing more muffled by the second. “If I stay here, I’ll get up with you.”

“If you’re sure,” Jongdae says and Baekhyun kicks out into the air, aiming for Jongdae’s leg and completely missing.

“I will, I promise. Just let me lie here and suffer. Do you know how many people would kill to get into bed with me?” Baekhyun lifts his head up and Jongdae laughs. “So many, and yet you are the lucky one.”

“Ok, heartthrob.” Jongdae laughs, the sarcasm doing nothing to hide the fondness in his tone.

“I’m being serious!” Baekhyun protests.

Drunk Baekhyun is a handful. He is already asleep by the time Jongdae returns to the bedroom with water after cleaning up. Jongdae wakes him up and forces him to drink at least half the glass before letting him drift off again. He tried. Jongdae sets an alarm for six, then another for six thirty, knowing that if Baekhyun wants to be up in time for work he’ll have to leave by then at the latest.

Jongdae falls asleep with Baekhyun wrapped around him and wakes up to a sloppy, minty fresh kiss to the forehead. “Sorry got to go or I’ll be late, thanks for last night, I’ll text you later!” Baekhyun mumbles and he is out the front door before Jongdae even rolls out of bed.

.

Demolition Derby day rolls around fast.

Jongdae waves at familiar faces as he makes his way to the track, fixing his helmet in place. His Impala was lined up next to Baekhyun’s Escort and they looked a sight. Everyone in the race today was about the garish lifestyle it seemed, but his bright yellow car decorated with daisies and Baekhyun’s neon green with neon pink highlights really stood out.

After the pre-show talk, Jongdae tracks down Baekhyun. He is stood with Chanyeol chatting about other competitors and beams when he sees Jongdae approach.

“Good luck!” Baekhyun shouts over the rabble, grabbing Jongdae by the neck and banging their helmets together. It is a ridiculous pre-race ritual that Baekhyun picked up from somewhere and Jongdae can’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

Then Jongdae is getting in his car, the klaxon sounds, and he is reversing through the dirt and slamming into a red Subaru. There are a few moments of panic when his wheels get stuck and when someone drives right into his driver’s door but Jongdae makes it through to the feature otherwise unscathed.

Baekhyun is there to pull him into a hug the minute he steps out of his car. “You good?” Baekhyun asks, waiting for Jongdae to nod before continuing, “We both made it through to the feature. You’re on top game this year, I’m proud of you.” The minute Jongdae removes his helmet, Baekhyun is pinching his cheek between his fingers and Jongdae bats him away.

“Thanks.”

“Want to place a little bet?” Baekhyun asks. “If I win, you buy me dinner.”

“And if I win?” Jongdae questions.

Baekhyun shrugs. “Think about it and get back to me. What do you want?”

There is an obvious and cliché answer – _you_. It is the first thing that comes to mind, but Jongdae doesn’t say it aloud. Instead he shrugs. “I’ll have a think.”

“Don’t think too hard, you might hurt yourself and then who will I have dinner with?” Baekhyun says, patting Jongdae’s hip before turning and looking into the crowd around them. “We should go and find Chanyeol. He brought snacks.”

The feature takes place later in the evening. Jongdae is thankful for summer, it is still light enough that he can see everything around him. It feels less gritty than the spring and fall matches – the rain makes the mud awful – but the dust adds to the atmosphere.

Baekhyun crashes their helmets together one more time before they head off and get into their cars.

The feature starts and Jongdae reverses into another Impala, this one magenta. There is a loud thud and Jongdae winces at the crunched-up car in front of him, watching as the driver tried and failed to restart the engine. Another one out. The last few moments were always the most desperate – Jongdae drives into another car and looks around at who is left. He sees the neon green Escort pressed up against the barrier and he loses focus for a moment – Baekhyun was out? – but snaps back into it when a car crashes into him from behind. Jongdae presses down on the pedal and reverses straight into it, hitting the unidentifiable red car with a satisfying _thud_.

Then it was over. There are cheers and it takes a moment for Jongdae to take in his surroundings because – he had won.

Both Baekhyun and Chanyeol are there when he gets out of his car.

“Holy shit, that was close,” Chanyeol said, his voice hoarse no doubt from yelling. “You won!”

“I won.” Jongdae laughs. “What happened to you?” He asks Baekhyun.

Baekhyun shrugs. “Got myself backed into a corner. It happens. But this isn’t about me – it is about you. You _won_! Your first win! We have to celebrate.”

“Let the man collect his winnings first, Baekhyun.” Chanyeol laughs.

Jongdae lets the pair drag him through the crowds, greeting the other competitors as they go. He doesn’t win too much – a few hundred dollars since the event was small and the prizes were never that big – but it will go towards his car for the next derby and it is satisfying holding his first trophy.

Chanyeol takes a dozen photos of him with the trophy before going home, leaving Jongdae alone with Baekhyun.

“So, have you decided what you want?” Baekhyun asks. “I suppose I’m buying you dinner.”

“I want you.” Jongdae blurts it out and Baekhyun’s eyebrows shoot up into his hairline. “I want you to come to dinner with me and then I want you to come home with me at the end of the night and hell, maybe I want to kiss you too –”

“I guess I can do that.” Baekhyun cuts of Jongdae’s rambling with a melodic laugh and they crash together in a messy first kiss that reflects their night. Jongdae wouldn't have it any other way though and as he looks at Baekhyun and leans in again, he decides this is the perfect first place prize.


End file.
